The present invention relates generally to systems for treating and conditioning skin and is particularly directed to an article of manufacture used to perform one or more functions such as enhancing skin, removing dead skin cells, removing accumulated make-up and cosmetics, extracting skin constituencies, depositing skin enhancing compositions, and improving skin appearance. The invention is specifically disclosed as a planar array of microelements that delivers an adjunct skin enhancement composition from at least one reservoir attached thereto, or the composition can be applied directly to skin and utilized therein in combination with the article of manufacture.
Human skin is the largest organ. Skin and hair are the surfaces of the human body that are visible to others and the appearance of skin is important to good grooming and health. Human skin comprises several layers, the outermost is the stratum corneum, which comprises dead skin cells and makes up a substantial portion of the first protective barrier of the body. Most skin comprises a stratum corneum which is 15-20 layers of dead cells thick (about 10-20 microns in thickness). However, some xe2x80x9cdurablexe2x80x9d skin layers, such as heels or calluses, can comprise a stratum corneum which is from 100-150 microns thick. On average, the skin naturally sheds at least one skin layer each day, and the first one to four layers of skin may be removed without affecting the protective nature of skin or the health thereof. In fact, removing up to four (4) layers of the stratum corneum may provide a skin surface area onto which make-up may be more uniformly applied and once applied has a more aesthetically pleasing appearance.
The removal of up to the first ten (10) layers of skin may also instigate resolution of and/or removal of unwanted comedones which themselves may be the result of skin pores being blocked by bacteria, dirt, dead cells, make-up, etc. The removal of skin layers in a safe and convenient manner can be indirectly accomplished in a limited manner by washing (or scrubbing) with an abrasive cloth, for example, a terry cloth sheet, but only skin cells which are about to shed are removed. However, make-up can be deposited into opened pores and if not thoroughly rinsed can leave the skin with an unwanted film of dirt, dead skin cells, oxidized oil.
There is therefore a long felt need for a system for providing enhanced skin health and appearance by helping to remove the outermost layer of human skin. There is also a need for a system which is capable of delivering to human skin one or more treatments which result in a smooth skin condition which facilitates the application of appearance enhancement compositions, cosmetics, and other materials or actives.
In conventional skin treatment or preparation methodologies, the skin cells scraped loose tend to become airborne when a mechanical scrubber is used. These airborne skin cells are distasteful at best, and could represent some type of health hazard in certain situations. In view of this situation, there further is a need to prepare skin in a manner such that most or all of the removed or xe2x80x9cloosexe2x80x9d skin cells do not become airborne.
In conventional skin treatment or preparation methodologies, the user has great control over the quantity of skin cells that are scraped loose from the skin, simply by rubbing harder, or by rubbing a larger (or smaller) number of strokes. This can be an undesirable situation, since the person may possibly injure himself or herself by being too vigorous, or since the person may achieve nothing by not being vigorous enough. It would be a significant improvement to provide an article of manufacture that can essentially guarantee that a predetermined maximum quantity of skin cells will be removed by application of that article on skin, such that the article""s use is essentially fool-proof by virtue of its effects being self-limiting, so that only a maximum amount of skin cells can be removed, regardless of the user""s very vigorous attempts to continue the rubbing strokes.
Accordingly, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus that can enhance the health and the appearance of human skin.
It is another advantage of the present invention to provide an article of manufacture to treat the surface of skin, which is capable of selectively modifying the skin surface and capable of discriminately removing differential amounts of the body""s outer skin layer (the stratum corneum).
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide articles of manufacture that are capable of removing not only unwanted layers of skin, but can also be fashioned in a manner to selectively remove body hair. At the same time the skin is being conditioned, the articles of manufacture can controllably deposit one or more skin care compositions thereto or provide a skin treatment.
It is still another advantage of the present invention to provide articles of manufacture which can deliver a metered amount of a composition, remove a specific number of cellular layers (e.g., skin layers), and the like; the articles of manufacture can also be made for any type of one-time treatment after which the individual article is disposed of.
Additional advantages and other novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned with the practice of the invention.
To achieve the foregoing and other advantages, and in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method for removing cells from skin is provide, in which the method comprises the steps of: (1) providing a microstructure having a substrate and a plurality of microelements; (2) placing the microstructure on skin then rubbing the microstructure against the skin, thereby scraping and accumulating skin cells on the substrate in areas between the plurality of microelements; and (3) withdrawing the microstructure from the skin, and thereby removing a large majority of the skin cells that have accumulated upon the substrate.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a microstructure apparatus is provided, which comprises: (1) a substrate and a plurality of microelements affixed upon a first surface of the substrate; (2) the plurality of microelements being of a predetermined size and shape so as to scrape a substantially predetermined quantity of skin cells from skin when the microstructure apparatus is placed upon the skin and moved in at least one predetermined direction; and (3) the plurality of microelements being spaced-apart from one another upon the substrate by a predetermined distances so as to remove a large majority of the scraped skin cells when the microstructure apparatus is withdrawn from the skin.
The present invention relates further relates to embodiments of the article of manufacture which allows simultaneous delivery of a skin-enhancing composition in conjunction with removing one or more constituents of skin or modifying the skin surface for further treatment. Such a skin-enhancing composition could include both a biological active and a chemical active.
Still other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description and drawings wherein there is described and shown a preferred embodiment of this invention in one of the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various, obvious aspects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
All percentages, ratios and proportions herein are by weight, unless otherwise specified. All temperatures are in degrees Celsius (xc2x0 C.) unless otherwise specified. All documents cited are in relevant part, incorporated herein by reference.